Class of the Titans: New Beginning
by swsbvbpatd
Summary: A new tale for the Class of the titans, based of the cartoon series, with the same characters, but a different series of events written for a new story. And when their history is changed, will Cronus be defeated? Or will they?
1. Chapter 1

It was dark, and the cold just added to the eerie feeling in Theresa's stomach. She'd already been forgotten by her so called "friends" at the dinner, when they'd left her behind to catch up with some guys from behind the counter, but she guessed that's just how life was when you were average and your friends were above. And when there was only two guys on shift. She sighed, kicking a rock on the path, how much worse could her Friday night get?

As a low growl sounded from nearby, she had her answer; very. At the moment, she seriously regretted taking the forest-route to get back home, especially knowing her father didn't like her walking that way in the daytime, what would he say knowing she'd walked it at night? Theresa's fingers began to shake, could it be a bear? She imagined dying at the hands of a bear, and no one would know where to look to find her body, as her father would never suspect she'd blatantly disobey the rules put in place for her own safety.

Yet, there she was; breathing heavily, heart beating unsteadily. Fear coursed through her veins, just a thick as the blood. Theresa's eyes darted around her surroundings, as if moving them faster would help her see any better. It didn't, she was just as disoriented as she was standing still.

"H-hello?" She said, backing into a tree, she let out a started yelp. When did that get there? "Who's there?"

 _Or whats._

The growl sounded again, only this time, it carried out, stretching on for what felt like forever, it was a low tone that hurt her ears. The bushes moved again, and in the moonlight, she made out the shape of a gigantic figure, almost human like, if not for the immense size of it. An ear-breaking caught in her throat, and she took off in a sprint down the path, hearing the loud, heavy footsteps of the giant behind her.

No way could a human be that big-no way. Sure, she'd seen the occasional 6"6 guy, but this one had to be five times her size!

She didn't dare look back, the sounds of it's feet pounding on the dirt was enough let her know he was already too close for comfort. Just as she neared the end of the trail, where the tree's would break for the field behind her neighborhood, a hand gripped onto her wrist picking her up off the ground, the fingers covered almost her entire forearm. She was held higher up than the head of the creature that held her, and this time, her scream was audible, as she looked down at the face of what could only be described as a troll.

Dry, green skin and blazing eyes, it stared at her like a late-night meal, making her scream continue on.

"Put her down!" Someone yelled, and she looked up, nearly fainting from the second impossible thing of the night.

A man sat on what Theresa could only make out to be a griffin- a very large one at that. Clutching onto a collar, he was on it's back whilst it flew around the troll and her, circling them, making her dizzy. She stared in awe as the griffin swooped down, biting into the arm that held her and tearing out a chunk of flesh. Theresa squeezed her eyes shut, but it was too late; she'd seen the skin torn out, blood oozing from the lack of green flesh.

The troll roared, and she was dropped to the ground, landing on the dirt, her knee's taking the impact. Adrenaline soon joined the fear, and she no longer felt the pain; instead, she felt ready to fight.

Getting to her feet, she watched as the griffin swooped down to take another bite at the troll, and she picked up the nearest item to throw at it, driving it's attention away from her flying savior. As the rock hit the trolls head, bulls-eye, it turned to give her a threatening glare, and the griffin took the opportunity to bite into its neck, spitting the flesh out almost immediately. It continued on towards her, and the man held out his hand to grab her as they passed.

Weighing her options to either stay with the troll, or go with the duo that'd saved her, she latched onto his hand, being dragged up off of the ground, she held in another scream as the troll jumped to try and reach them, but they were already too high.

Way, way too high.

Her feet dangled under her, giving her a perspective of how far she was from the ground. Should we have fallen from that high, she'd be smashed to pieces by the ground that lied below. Moments later, the hand that gripped her own swung her to the left, letting go. As she fell, she let out a piercing scream, her lungs draining of oxygen right up until she landed on the back of a creature much similar to the one the man rode, and she felt silly for her yell. Theresa breathed heavily, the fear and adrenaline making panting the only way to catch her breath.

"I trust you're okay?" The man said, smiling at her, "We showed up just in time, didn't we, Cora?"

The creature below him let out a grunt, and Theresa did a double take, still amazed by it in every way. Since when could griffins and people have such an understandable conversation?

Since when were griffins eight feet tall?

Since when were griffins real?

The man continued, "You are alright, though? Right?"

Theresa nodded, shaking her awe away, "Yeah, I... what was that? Who are you?"

He seemed to sit up straighter, as if suddenly prouder, "Hermes; god of Communications, at your service."

She blinked at him, but she didn't fight against his claim. After the nights previous events, she would have believed him if he'd said he was Harry Potter, back from the future to save Hogwarts, even if he was missing the infamous scar. She grabbed the collar of the bird underneath her a little tighter, her fear of falling down taking control of her muscles, "And that... thing?"

"Troll. Or ogre, if you prefer." He said as he looked back at it retreating, now far away in the distance. "One of Cronus' no doubt. You hear of him? Titan of time, favorite pass-time is causing chaos?"

"Yeah," Theresa said, her mind reeling. "My mom was sum-what of a Greek mythology nut; those myths were my bedtime stories as a kid."

"Well, they're not myths, Theresa." He said, smiling my way, "Cronus broke out of the tartarus prison that'd held him these passed few millennium, and he's back to his old tricks."

"So, that was just a wrong place-wrong time kind of thing?" She asked, her voice full of hope. She'd always had a thing with her intuition, and it was never wrong, and at that moment, she really didn't like what it was telling her.

As Hermes gave her a pitiful look, she knew her intuitions winning streak was still on, "No, it wasn't. How familiar are you with Theseus?"

Theseus? The name felt anything but foreign as it bounced around her head. The griffins swooped down towards the town, going lower and lower. She felt that they would be landing soon; but where? She had no clue. "Pretty familiar, I suppose. He was a king of Athens, right? Son of Poseidon?"

"Yes," He said, smiling, "I'm impressed that you knew that. But, anyways... he was your ancestor, and even if it's a diluted bloodline, the blood of a hero runs through your veins, Theresa."

"Oh," Theresa said, unsure how to reply to that, or what it had to do with any of the events that'd taken place. "That's cool, I guess."

"And there exists a prophecy," Hermes continued, almost as soon as she'd finished talking. "That when Cronus once again poses a threat, he will be stopped by seven heroes."

"I still don't see where I fall into this," Theresa said, laughing humorlessly.

A field came into view in front of them, large enough to act as a runway, Theresa recognized the lines of white on the grass as a football field, the location falling into place; it was the field outside of Archos high school, one of the countless schools in the city. It proved to be the smallest, but the most academically-valuable one, too, which explained why she didn't go there. Her grades were average, if that.

"As I said earlier; the blood of a hero runs through your veins," He said, and it became a little clearer to Theresa what the end game was, but she still refused to let herself entirely believe it. In her mind, she was anything but a hero, especially one of prophecy. "You are a hero, Theresa, and you're destined to defeat Cronus."

"That's..." Her voice trailed off; there was no sense in denying it, not then, anyways. She was too tired to fight, especially since her adrenaline had worn off and she was beginning to feel the pain of her knees, the impact of her falling to the ground apparently had done some damage. "You'd better hope the other 6 are damn good."

"Well," He said, laughing, "After I drop you off I'm off to them, so, I guess we'll find out."

Theresa blinked, gripping on for dear life as the griffin began to make a springing motion with it's legs, nearing the grass. When they hit, it felt like that of a plane, and Theresa lunged forward on it's back, her head coming closer than she would have liked to bashing into that of the creature. How mad would it have gotten then? And with those talons... Theresa really didn't want to anger it. As both of them slowed to a stop, she climbed off of it, suffering through the pain of landing on her feet beside it, she bit her tongue as she did, her knee's taking her weight with agony.

"Wait, drop me off?" She questioned, "Here?"

"Well, yes." He said, "Is that a problem?"

Theresa nodded; all she wanted was to go home. She'd had enough chaos, and all she wanted-needed, really- was a good night's rest to sleep off what was hopefully a dream, even though she knew she'd wake up and remember it all as it'd really happened. Her instinct wouldn't even let her _hope_ that it wasn't real.

"Theresa, you were just attacked less than a mile from your house." Hermes reminded her, and her face fell. She could easily predict the words that would come next, and she knew she'd have no argument. "It's not safe there anymore, not for you."

She bit back tears of frustration. Her exhaustion was getting to her now, in ways she didn't want a stranger like him to see. "What about my dad?"

She pictured her father, seated at his desk as he was every night, the photo of Theresa and her mother sitting on the corner, one of the last ones ever taken before her death. And him, taking phone calls and pretending that the only thing in existence was his business, completely unaware of the trouble Theresa'd gotten herself into. He could be dead because of her, at the one of those things that'd been looking for her. She felt guilt and fear weigh in her heart.

Hermes waved her worry off, "He'll be fine. When morning comes around, he'll think you're staying with your grandma for a few weeks."

"In the middle of the school year?" Theresa urged on, my hands crossing over my chest. No way would he believe that, especially not from a stranger. Her only grandparents lived in palm springs, across the country; she was lucky to see them once every summer, but in the school year? He would never risk her grades like that. "No way."

Hermes winked, "He won't know to doubt it, Theresa. Not when I'm on the case."

She snorted, of course; how could she have doubted a god?


	2. Chapter 2

Hermes led Theresa all the way from the field to the janitors closet, making her start to question the gods intentions. She watched as she pulled out a shining gold pendant, printed with indented designs all around the edges, and a bright 'T' in the center. He handed it to her, and she noticed how it's shaped matched that of the indentation in the door handle. Hesitantly, she took it from him, locking it into place and turning the door handle.

The door clicked open, and she was met with a dark room. She turned back around to ask him, "What next?", but he was already gone, as if he'd just... disappeared. Unsure how to proceed, she decided to go for it, stepping into the room, she caught the faintly illuminated cord that hung from the ceiling and she reached forward, grabbing onto the plastic piece that hung at the end. She pulled, and the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her in darkness, but only for a second.

Moments later, the wall across from the door lit up, suddenly looking like a whirlpool of blue water instead of the plain white wall it'd been just moments later. Her eyes gleamed with admiration; it was gorgeous, nothing like anything she'd ever seen before. Memorized, she reached forwards, her fingers grazing it, they seemed to dip right through it, and she pushed further and further until her entire arm was inside, none of it wet, despite the water it'd gone through.

Putting her faith in the gods, she said a prayer before she took a step forwards, her entire body going through the water-wall and into whatever lied beyond. She opened the eyes that'd she'd closed so tightly, and they widened at the sight.

It looked like a home of the gods; and for all she knew, it could be exactly that. The walls were stories high above her, sunroofs everywhere, she stared in awe at the golden designs that coated the white walls, and the pillars that were evenly spaced down the small hallway in front of her, leading right into the circular room beyond that.

In the room, there was nothing except a gigantic golden statue, and tens of other doorways that led to who knows where. The statue that sat in the middle looked like it was not only gold in color, but solidly made out of the substance, shaped after a strong, muscled man with a lightning bolt in his grasp; it wouldn't take a genius to figure out whom that was.

Having spent the time to look around her, she almost didn't notice the woman who's eyes were on her, a smile on her face. When Theresa saw her standing by the statue, she jumped; a side effect of what'd happened earlier, she felt like everything would frighten her for a while. Theresa cleared her throat, "Um, hello?"

"Hello, Theresa." The woman said, stepped towards her. A long, flowy white robe moved with her, seemingly weightless. "I'm Hera."

Theresa's awe seemed to just escalate as the night went on, "Queen of Olympus?"

"Yes," She laughed, "You know your mythology well. That's good."

Theresa shrugged, "Just the important stuff. What is this place?"

"You can't tell?" She said, looking around herself, her eyes fell on the statue and she seemed to sigh in admiration of the man she called husband; the King of Olympus, Zeus. "It's Olympus, Theresa."

The teenager looked around the room as it shed gotten new eyes; picturing every god walking through these halls, who else had stood where she was standing? She imagined how much her mother would have enjoyed this, and fir the first time in years, Theresa felt a pang for the woman she loved so dearly. She missed her, and Olympus was something she would have loved.

"Why am I in Olympus?" Theresa questioned, bringing herself away from the past and into the present. "I know about the prophecy, but can we not just get it over with and then go home?"

"Theresa," Hera laughed, as if there was something obvious that i wasn't picking up on. "Cronus is thousands of years old, you can't just pick up a sword and kill him. He has abilities you, as mortals don't. At the very least you'll need to be trained."

Theresa scoffed, "So how many days of my life did I just sign up to waste."

"Weeks," Hera said, and even Theresa had to give her props for her honesty. "Now, would you like to see the training room? With Ares being your guys' trainer, I imagine you'll be in there quite often."

Theresa nodded, forcing a smile. Even if she was tired, angry and overwhelmed, she knew better than to give attitude to a deity; that would land her in a whole lot of trouble the didn't need. The duo moved around the room to one of the many doorways, and Hera pushed it open to reveal a gym, much like the ones Theresa used to kick box in as a kid, only larger.

God sized.

The middle of the room was floored with blue mats, and the edge had been made into a race track, fit for around the center hung punching bags and targets, racks with bows and arrows missing points. Theresa gaped at it all, "We need all of this just to defeat one guy?"

"A god." Hera corrected, "You need all this just to defeat a god."

"Oh," Theresa said, suddenly worrying for her own safety. If she needed all of this training to defeat him, when it all came down to it, would she be okay? She really, _really_ hoped the others were good at all of this stuff, because when it came down to it, she may be a damn good fighter but a gad was still a god.

"Take a look around," Hera insisted, motioning to the room before us, "Hopefully Hermes will be back with some of the others soon."

Theresa nodded, stepping away from the goddess and towards the equipment, her hands ran along the shiny, new edges of it all. A human-like bot sat in the middle of the room; it's features so near that of any given person that it made her do a double take. If it wasn't for the metallic substance that it was formed in, she most likely would have thought it was a person. She walked up to it, staring at it for a second; it was so lifelike it was terrifying.

"What's this?" Theresa asked the deity, and Hera walked over, admiring the piece, as well.

"One of Hephaestus' creations; it's a fighting bot." Hera explained, and Theresa noted the boxing gloves built onto it's hands, and the plush shin pads and safety gear on it's knee's and elbows. She nodded, picturing being in a combat with it; she was glad all the parts that could do damage were covered in something that would make it less painful. "I should return to my work, I trust you'll be okay?"

Theresa nodded, her eyes gleaming, focused on the toys and tricks before her. She'd almost forgotten about the deity completely as she moved on to admire another one of Hephaestus' creations, no doubt; a set of mechanical hands attached to a cylinder, one holding a bow the other multiple arrows, ready to take aim and fire all on it's own. Hera shot out a warning as Theresa approached it, "Don't walk in front of that; it turns on by motion detector."

Hesitant, she took a step back, suddenly feeling in danger by being in the center of the room. As Hera walked out, Theresa stood still; unsure how to spend her time while she waited for Hera's further explanation about everything that was a bout to change. Nerves pricked at her skin, she knew all too well that this was well out of her comfort zone, but according to what she'd been told, her thoughts and opinions weren't in the mix at the moment, not while the future was at stake. She though about it; how much trouble could one person really cause? With armies and soldiers out there to fight, and apparently the gods, as well, could one person really even come close to taking over the world?

In her mind, Theresa refused to believe it, but her intuition, as it usually did, had other ideas.

Voices sounded from inside the room with the statue, and she made her way back towards the set of double doors that blocked her view, pushing on them ever so slightly in order to get a peak. Just beyond them, she caught a glimpse of three figures as they made there way into the area, looking just as confused and in awe as she had when she'd walked through the portal. Hera was at there side in seconds, smiling at them, she greeted them by their names; Atlanta, Jay and Archie.

The girl, Atlanta, stepped forwards, asking the same questions Theresa had; _who are you? What is this place?_ Theresa smiled- she didn't waste time, and that made Theresa feel like they'd get along great in the future, whilst the Cronus thing was going on. Just beyond Atlanta, one of the boys caught her eye; he was tall, his hair brown, he had her heart beating almost as fast as the adrenaline had earlier. His jaw was set, and his features blank until he stepped up, "This is amazing, but, I think you have the wrong guy. I... I don't know about them, but I'm not cut out for this."

It was weird, but something about his honesty and his modesty made Theresa that much more intrigued. How many guys these days could you meet and say that they were really honest; that they were truthful, even about their weakness' or abilities? Not that many. These days, it was all about showing off and impressing girls into going on dates with them.

Theresa accidentally pushed the door a little harder as her body inclined forwards, and the hinges squeaked. Realizing she was caught, she pushed it all the way open so she could step through, ignoring the 4 pairs of eyes that were on her as she walked up to the group, hands at her sides, fiddling with the fabric of her pants. The boy blinked at her, and she did her best not to meet his eyes; she could easily imagine her face going beat red.

"Hermes should have explained the just of it," Hera said, "And when the other three arrive, I will get to the rest. Patience."

"Patience?" The other boy, Archie said, running a hand through the violet hair on his head, he let out a heavy breath, "I just got attacked by a _troll_ , I don't have any room for patience, lady. Who even are you?"

"Watch your tongue, boy," A newcomer said, and they all turned to look at the white-haired man that'd entered the room, his figure smaller than what Theresa'd expected from a god, but still more than any human. He walked over to them, and as he approached, Theresa's breath caught in her throat, her eyes darting between him and the statue above them. It was an exact match, this man was Zeus. _The_ Zeus.

"Zeus." Jay said, making the connection just as she did. He was stricken with amazement as well, as if it was the most magnificent thing in the world to be in his presence, and, really, to him it was. He was standing with a supposed myth, how could this not be amazing? "You're... Zeus."

"Yes," Zeus said, nodding. His eyes went back to Archie, and Theresa almost felt bad for the violet-haired boy. This was why she didn't want to anger a god, and now Archie, too, really wished he hadn't. "That is Queen of Olympus, Archie, and it would do you well to remember your place on the ladder; the bottom."

After a stutter, Archie responded, "Yes sir."

"Now," Zeus said, looking at the skylight above, where nothing but darkness showed through it. "Hermes should be rounding up the last batch, and it's late. How about we show you to your rooms, as you must be tired, and we'll start this back up in the morning?"


	3. Chapter 3

Jay was lost, to say the least. His entire view on the myths that he'd always found so interesting had been changed in the course of a night. He was a descendant of Jayson, the hero that was known for leading the Argonauts, and many tales that Jay knew all too well. How could no one other than him and these three strangers know this? So many people were wrong in believing they were just myths, but it was a secret he was also glad to have to himself; it kept it special.

It kept him special; more so than he'd been as the Greek mythology geek back home.

"So," Archie said, attracting Jays, Theresa's and Atlanta's attention his way as the walked out of the school building and into the cold, frosted air outside. Theresa hadn't felt it earlier, her blood had been rushing too fast for her to even notice, but the night made it so much colder than it was in the day, especially on that night. "It sucks that they've left the explanations for tomorrow, huh? I don't know how I'm expected to sleep with this much confusion and so many questions."

Jay laughed, one hundred percent in agreement. And, though it was obvious she knew more then they did, having had some one-on-one with Hera, Theresa's brain was still home to many unanswered questions, and she didn't think they would disappear for a while. Jay spoke up, edging on the conversation- the quite was too unnerving, and too not-distracting, "Yeah, I'm in agreement with you there. This entire night has just been so..."

 _What's the word?,_ he thought.

"Overwhelming?" Theresa offered, filling the gap. He smiled at her, not letting himself focus on the beautiful face that he'd been staring at practically since he'd seen her. In his eyes, Theresa looked like one of the goddess', not that she'd ever know that.

"Exactly," He said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, as if the thin fabric would protect his fingers from the cold.

The group followed the vague directions that Zeus and Hera had given them, which really didn't include much other than _across the street_ and _brown brick house_. Theresa, upon running ahead of the group as if to get out of the cold fast, pointed out a building that matched the description, "That one, maybe?"

Atlanta nodded, moving to catch up, "Seems like. At this point, though, I don't care who it belongs to, I just want out of the cold."

Theresa laughed, and the two girls walked up the stone steps to the door, knocking with the metal piece, someone answered it a few moments later. A woman stood before them, with her hair chopped above her jawline and her clothing looking as modern as possible, Theresa and Atlanta both believed they had, indeed, found the wrong house- until the woman smiled and spoke, "Which on of you is Atlanta, and which is Theresa?"

After a moment's hesitation, Theresa lifted her hand to give a small wave, "Theresa."

The woman's grin widened as the boys approached behind them, but she ignored them for the time being, "I've been cooped up here in a week getting things ready and keeping things well, waiting for Hermes to finally find you guys. I'm glad you made it here before Cronus could crush you all to tiny human pieces."

 _Heartwarming_ , Atlanta thought, chuckling a little. "Well, is this the-"

"You're new home," The woman said, "Well, for a while, anyways."

"Sorry," Archie said, clearing his throat, "but, uh, who are you?"

"Athena," She said, simply, holding open the door to let them in, "And I'm currently cold so get inside so I can shut this door, will you?"

"Gladly," Jay said, waiting for the girls and Archie to step inside before he did; who said chivalry was dead?

Inside, it was almost normal; nothing like anything any of them would have pegged to house a goddess, aside from the ornaments. Two swords hung on the wall, inter-crossing to form an X with the blades. Similar items seem to hang all around, and Theresa couldn't help but think that maybe they had a fear of the inevitable; Cronus, and wanted quick weapons at disposal. Athena led our small group into the living room that sat just to thee left of the entrance, and to their surprise, the room housed things as new as a television on the wall; who knew gods could modernize?

Athena stood, but Archie wasted no time in lounging and making himself at home in the three-floored home. After all, he thought, if they were stuck there, they were stuck, might as well make it a good situation. Athena ignored him- until he moved to put his feet up on the wooden table, and the wasted no time in kicking them away, banging his ankle on the table on it's way down, he bit back a cry. Sure, he was good at handling pain, as long as it was in any other place then the ankle that'd caused him problems all his life.

"Now," Athena said, letting out a heavy, exasperated breath. "Get some rest. You four have a tiring day cut out for you tomorrow, and I won't be held accountable for 4 kids acting tired and lazy in training."

"Aye, aye," Atlanta laughed, but inside, her mind was reeling. For all she knew, this entire thing could be a scam, and she could be signing herself up for a kidnapping... or worse. She swallowed her fears as Athena led the group upstairs to the third and highest level, where six doors led to what Atlanta could only assume were rooms.

One by one, Athena pointed them off to a room of her choosing, and Jay found himself heading towards a room right across the hall from Theresa's, only a little more than glad that he didn't have to share a room with anyone. As he began to close his door, his eyes met Theresa's across the hall as she did the same, and they smiled at each other, just as his door clicked closed. Flicking on the lights, his eyes wandered around the room; burgundy paint and black furniture made it all seem a lot more sophisticated and taken care of then the blue room he'd had back home, but as soon as his eyes found the bed, he felt just how tired he was.

Apparently, fighting off a giant troll took a lot more out of you than the average walk, and maybe some of his exhaustion had to do with the confusion. Confusion could tire, right? Well, maybe it was the stress in general.

Either way, the moment Jay's head hit the pillow, he was out, and none of it really mattered anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

Theresa woke up with a pain in her neck, but that's what sleeping on a cheep pillow will do to you. She was used to memory foam and plush mattresses double the size of the one she'd been given, but what could she do other than sit with it. Rolling her neck, she climbed off the bed and made her way towards the door-only to trip over something on the floor.

Landing just in front of the door, the pain was no longer just on her neck from waking up, but the impact of the hardwood floor had caused her knees to pang, as well, causing her to groan. What a great start to her day- she could already tell how the rest of it was going to go.

She looked over at the thing she'd tripped over, and her face took on a look of confusion. A suitcase? She couldn't remember that being there last night. Curiosity took over and she crawled over to it, unzipping the top and lifting it off, her confusion grew at the sight of her own clothes and photo-frames from her room, all packed up neatly. A chill crept down her spine; as grateful as she was to have her things, she didn't like the idea of someone other than herself having been in her room and packing her clothes, and the idea that someone had to have come into her room last night to put the suitcase there made her even more weary about it.

Theresa was already on edge after the events of yesterday evening, and things just seemed to keep piling onto her eerie feeling, making her feel sick to her stomach. She pushed it all aside, though, and rifled through the suitcase for something to wear- the jeans and tee shirt she'd been wearing for almost 24 hours now were beginning to get scratchy, and were in desperate need of a wash.

Changing into a different pair of jeans and a different tee shirt, she laughed at the similarities. If it weren't for the black jeans instead of the blue, and the graphic on the white shirt, it'd be the same outfit as yesterday. She'd never really noticed all of her clothes looked close to the same.

Theresa wandered out of her room and into the hall, where the yelling finally hit her ears; it was a girl and a guy, just down the hall. Atlanta and Archie were both standing in front of the floors only bathroom, battling each other with words as well as arms to get inside. Despite the look of fury on both of their faces, Theresa was forced to hold back a laugh at the scene.

"I got here first!" Archie yelled, making an attempt to duck under her arm that blocked him from entry. He had, after all, gotten there first- by a split second, of course. And as much as he wanted to go inside and shower, he was enjoying the fight between him at the redhead in front of him. He wasn't really trying to get in, just to get her going- and by the red tint to her face, and the way her lips were pressed together, he'd succeeded. "Get out of my way."

"I'm the girl, here," she said, "And you only beat me here because your room is closer."

"Yours isn't even on this floor- why don't you use the upstairs bathroom?" Archie countered, "I was here _first._ "

"Because _someone_ is in there taking their sweet time. The others must've shown up last night, and one of them isn't very courteous on the fact there are other people in need of a shower. " Atlanta said. She'd climbed out of bed and into the hall over an hour ago, and she'd been waiting for nearly forty five minutes before she finally gave up and came down here, only to verbally battle it out with the fool in front of her.

Behind Theresa, another door opened, and Jay stepped out of his room to see what the racket was about. Theresa smiled at him, and despite his tiredness, he smiled back, before stepped passed her to walk over to the two that were yelling, "Guys, just do rock, paper scissors."

"Fine." Archie said, stepping back from the door, he held a fist out towards Atlanta, but her face took on a grin. "Well?"

"I was never one for kid games," She said, and with speed none of them saw coming, she ducked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, a lock clicking moments later. Archie blinked at the closed door, kicking it hard before he retreated to his room.

Theresa chuckled, shaking her head as he stormed away. Jay seemed to let out a long breath, "Well, if that happens every morning, I guess I won't need an alarm."

"Oh, I really hope not," Theresa said, "I can see them waking up earlier next time to try and beat the other to it- and I'd hate to be woken up at, like, 6 am for that. I get angry when I'm tired."

"How angry?" Jay said, and Theresa smiled.

"Trust me," She said, moving passed him towards the stairs. She was half way down the steps before she continued, "You don't want to know."

Downstairs, Theresa was met by a sight she never would have suspected to have seen. Athena stood in the kitchen, a long, deadly sword strapped to her hip, she was cooking. Just behind her, a big, muscled boy sat at the table, waiting for permission to eat whatever it was she was making them. In all her years, Theresa never expected to watch the Goddess Athena cook her breakfast.

"Good morning," Athena said, flipping a pancake on the stove. Theresa seemed to stare at her for a second before she came back to her senses enough to reply. The goddess was piling one pancake on top of the other onto a plate beside her. At that moment, the pancake tower of terror was at least 15 high, and she wasn't done yet.

"Morning," Theresa said, lowering into a seat across from the boy. She smiled at him, "Hi, I'm Theresa."

He smiled back, reaching across the table to shake her hand, "Herry."

The circumference of his arm had to have been at least the same as her head, if not bigger. And for a teenager, that was big. Behind her, she heard shuffling, and Jay and Archie joined the group at the table, equally memorized by the scene of Athena cooking. Athena smiled at them, "Morning, boys. I hope you're all hungry."

"Yes, ma'am." Herry said, rubbing his hands together, "I could eat a horse."

Athena laughed, dropping the tower of pancakes onto the table in front of us, she brought plates over just after, setting three more places at the table for whenever everyone else decided to come down. "Eat up."

The speed in which Herry scarfed down one pancake after the other made him look like he could, indeed, have eaten a horse, but that was normal for him. He'd contemplated making a living as a competitive eater on multiple occasions, but it'd never carried through. His granny had also told him on so many occasions that it was rude to eat as fast and as much as he did, but he never seemed to listen.

"Mm," Atlanta said as she came into the room, her hair wet after her shower. Archie gave her a glare, but it was entirely forced. He knew just as well that her trick had been well played, and even if he wanted to be mad for it, he had to admire her ability to trick him, of all people. "Smells good."

"Better hurry and eat, then," Theresa said, "Before Herry eats it all."

Harry laughed, "It's a possibility."

Atlanta slid into one of the empty spots at the table and claimed two pancakes for herself. As everyone was eating, two more people strolled into the room, and everyone's eyes seemed to drift their way. One of them, with curly brown hair and a height that made him look like a tween much rather a teen, smiled, "Hi all, I'm Odie."

The other one was quiet until he sat down, "Um, are those low fat, whole wheat?"

Athena blinked at them, "Eat them, Neil."

"Okay, okay," He said, putting a pair of sunglasses on over his eyes, despite the lack of sun indoors. "Just, you know, for next time-"

"Eat." Athena said, her tone rough and demanding. Theresa felt her posture straighten as though she was the one being commanded, and everyone else at the table seemed to look the same. The only person who remained unfazed was Neil, who sighed heavily and sat at the head of the table, comfortable and without a care in the world. He didn't care that the goddess looked to be on her last nerve with him, or that the other people at the table were looking at him like he'd just said something astonishing. All he cared about was that he looked good, as usual.

"So," Jay said, clearing his throat. Suddenly the eyes were all no longer on Neil, but on him instead, something that Neil didn't like too much. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Training." Athena said, "You all need to get comfortable here, because you'll be here for a while, trust me."

"Hey," Herry laughed, grabbing another pancake from the tower that'd significantly decreased in size since he started digging into it. "If all of the food is like this, than I'm more than okay with that."

The table erupted in laughter, and Theresa shook her head, smiling. These people she was stuck with didn't seem too bad, and she suddenly forgot that she ever had a problem being there in the first place.


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't know how I feel about this," Jay said, eyeing Theresa in front of him. Unlike him, she was prepared for a fight; her hands in front of her face in fists, ready to block anything he might throw her way. He, however, was facing Ares with a weary look on his face. Sure, Jay knew how to fight, but he didn't like the idea of hitting a girl. Ares had told them to go all out on one another, and Atlanta and Herry were already swinging at each other with full force, and Odie was getting pummeled by Archie, but Jay couldn't bring himself to even step forwards.

Theresa looked slightly annoyed, which made sense, considering that's exactly how she felt. Jay seemed nice, but if he really thought he'd hurt her in a fight, he had another thing coming. Ares wasn't paying attention to his pleads, and neither was she. Instead, Theresa inched forwards, swinging her leg up and out, nearly hitting him on the side of his head. If he hadn't ducked, it would have been a hard strike that would have made his ears ring, at the least. Theresa smiled, "I might be a girl, but I still pack a punch."

"Noted," He said, adjusting the way he stood, "Go easy on me, then."

Theresa rolled her eyes, but she had to hold back another smile in doing so. This time it was him who swung, slow enough that she could easily block it in time, and she got the sense he was going easy on her, still. Beside them, she heard Atlanta hit the ground, and both Theresa and Jay looked over to see Herry looming over her, smiling. Atlanta climbed up off the matt, "Two out of three?"

"You're on." Herry said back, and the two started up again.

Theresa looked passed them at Odie and Archie, who were back in the same place they'd been in five minutes ago; Odie sprawled out on the floor, Archie standing beside him with a smug look on his face. Neil was simply sitting back and relaxing on the sidelines, something he'd volunteered to do. Theresa was so absorbed in everyone else's fights, that she'd forgotten about her own for a second, giving Jay the opportunity to knock her off her feet. One second, she was watching Odie struggle to get back up, and the next, she was staring at the white ceiling above her.

"You good?" Jay said, moving over to her side, he looked down at her, and it became obvious to Theresa he was holding back a smile. She kicked out, sending him to the floor, too. He groaned, "Take that as a yes."

Ares called out, "Alright, everyone, I think it's time to get going."

"Going where?" Atlanta asked, standing up after Herry had knocked her down, again. Theresa stood, too, listening to the conversation as it happened. "And we just started, how can we be done already?"

"You have something to do," Ares stated, "There's been some... things... incidents, really, in the forest by the lake. Hera thinks you should check it out."

"Us?" Archie said, playing with the technology toy Hephaestus had given him when we first came into the room. A small, palm held whip that let lose a metal string that could slice apart anything-and currently that thing was the edges of Herry's hair. It cut through without him so much as noticing. "I thought we were here to fight Cronus, not check up on... _incidents_."

"Hera has reason to believe it ties to Cronus," Ares said, "Take Herry's car, head down there."

"Why my car?" Herry said, as if it were a bad thing. He just didn't fancy the idea of having six strangers taking up the backseat of his baby, was that so wrong? Most people he let ride in his truck weer pre-approved and known not to get dirt on the seats in front of them, or track mud inside the vehicle at all.

"Because Hephaestus fixed it up," Ares said, shrugging. Herry's face became blank; fears of what might have been done to the car filling his mind. "Well? Go."

At the edge of the room, Jay, Atlanta and Theresa raced to grab their own gear. Hephaestus had fixed them all up with weapons of sorts that they could use. A sword for Jay, a set of nunchucks for Theresa, pairing with her Martial Arts skills. They were a team; and they were there for their own special talents. Jay was the leader, descendant of Jason, leader of the Argonauts. Theresa had the role of the fighter; having grown up learning how to keep her head up in a battle or two, her heritage with Theseus, King of Athens, just added to her abilities. Atlanta was the hunter; born and raised into a family of bows and arrows and riffles, her aim was as deadly as her speed, gifted to her my Artemis, Huntress. Neil was obsessed with himself, something that also came down from family lines; Narcissus was known for his obsession, having fallen in love with his reflection long ago. Archie was the warrior, trained and ready to fight any battle, he was immune to disease, much like his ancestor Achilles. Odie, too, shares traits with whom he successes; Odysseus gifting him with high intelligence.

The group themselves covered every aspect you could possible need, but their abilities were no where near those of the gods, and they knew that well. Theresa held high doubts that she could ever be a part of something so important and risky, and she was weary on the idea of risking her life, despite what they were fighting for. She may have been a fighter growing up, but she was used to sparring and competitions, not battling with the risk of death. Even so, she followed the group of six outside, toying with the weapon on her hip, something she did when her nerves were acting up. Outside of Olympus High, a bright red truck was parked in the lot, with large headlights stuck to the top of it, and a box in the back.

Herry grinned at the sight of it, his worry melting away. Hephaestus had outdone himself; it went from a ten year old teenage boys car, to a spiffy truck way out of the price range of a teenager such as himself. He ran his hands along the pain job, not caring that the group was watching him do so, "It's beautiful, I think I might cry."

"Don't go doing that, boy." Hephaestus said, stepping out from the other side of the truck, a wrench in his left hand, he twirled it around his fingers before shoving it into place in his belt. "It's just a few improvements- now, go on. Hera would like it if you were all back by nightfall."

"She's like a mom," Neil whined, "God, I think-"

"Careful using that term in vain," Hephaestus warned, pointing a stern finger towards the blond. Neil gulped. "You might get yourself in some trouble."

Jay cleared his throat, his hand resting on the handle to the sword that was tucked to his side. Ever since he'd gotten it, he'd been all too fixated on the memorizing design and appearance of it. The hand on top was more protective than anything else. As everyone turned to him, he did his best to assure himself he had the potential to lead this group to a victory against Cronus. "We'd better get going, then. Let's see what this Cronus guy is all about."

One by one, they filed into the Truck until there were only two left; Archie and Neil. After Herry suggested they climb into the box in the back, causing Neil to throw a fit about how the wind would make his hair look less than impressive. After what felt like forever of arguing, Theresa groaned, climbing out of the Truck and into the Box with Archie, allowing Neil to take a seat inside. As Herry drove them out of the parking lot, Theresa begun to feel exactly as Neil had described; her hair being whipped all around her by the wind, sending flashes of red before her eyes every now and then. She was careful to keep her head down and out of the way of the real gusts of wind, Archie doing the same across from her.

She yelled, "So, do any of us really know what we're looking for?"

Archie shrugged, "Something godly and suspicious?"

"Like what? A lightning bolt?" Theresa laughed, turning her head to get a look at the road in front of them. In just a few minutes, they'd reach the edge of the forest, and be forced to exit the vehicle in search of something unknown to all of them. Her fingers toyed with the chain that the two ends of the nunchucks. Inside the car, Atlanta's knee was bouncing up and down with a speed that made it blur in the eyes of those around her, but it felt normal to her. Neither of the girls seemed to notice as the truck pulled to a stop in front of the line of trees; not until people started jumping out of the truck, and they were forced to follow.

Jay sighed, starting towards the tree's, "Well, better start... checking it out."

One by one, they moved into the tree's, navigating around the trees in search of anything that seemed out of place. Theresa felt the mission was useless- until the leaves rustled beside her, and her walking slowed to a stop. Her eyes moved to look over beside her, watching the tree's that blocked her view of anything passed them as though them, themselves, might be a threat. A low pitched growl, like that of a dog, made her inch away, mumbling, "Guys..."

"Theresa?" Atlanta said, walking over. She didn't seem to notice the disruption next to them, "You good?"

"Look!" Theresa practically screamed, just as something jumped over the trees, landing just in front of the two girls. Theresa fell off her feet, having lost her footing and crashing to the dirt below her. The five others were behind them in seconds, weapons raised, as though any of them really knew what they were doing. Still, it gave Theresa comfort knowing they were there to back them up. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes raking over whatever it was that stood in front of her. She'd read all the mythological stories, she knew tons of them by heart, but in the presence of an animal as odd and frightening as whatever stood by her, her brain felt like mush; useless mush.

It was gigantic, much like Hermes' griffons, only it certainly wasn't a griffon. It's teeth were sharp, as were it's claws. It's body was long and slender, but by far, the thing that made Theresa's mouth drop agape was the fact that it didn't have one head, nor two; it had three. It was a three headed dog. Just behind her, she heard Jay's voice perk up in the awed silence, "Cerebus. It has to be."

"Cerebus?" Atlanta said, swallowing, "Like, the dog that guards Hell?"

"Good dog?" Herry muttered, but the growling increased.

Cerebus took one, long step forwards, coming closer and closer to the group of scared teens. All three sets of it's teeth were exposed, and it used one of them to nip at Archie, who was quick in swiping at it with the whip he held so dear. His little practice with it sent it's metal everywhere but where he wanted it to go, nearly cutting off Odie's hair in the process.

Atlanta had her wrist out and aiming, the wrist-crossbow ready to fire when she felt it was right. In her mind, though, the dog had barely made a move to fight them, so why fight it yet? Beside her, everyone else seemed to be getting the same idea. A few meters behind them, Neil cowered behind a tree, not prepared to fight in any way. Atlanta had suspected he'd be as much in a fight, but she still rolled her eyes at the sight of him. Coward.

"So, what now?" Odie said.

"Well, I imagine this has been causing whatever incidents Ares spoke of," Jay said, "But I don't know why Hades' guard would be here. On Earth."

"Well, I mean," Archie said, "If Olympus is so easily accessible here, why not Hell?"

Theresa twirled the nunchucks in her fingers, watching it like she was a hawk, "So, what now? Fight it?"

"I guess," Jay said, just as it made a jump towards him, the middle head's jaws clamping shut just short of his head. Jay swung his sword around, causing the dog to move back to avoid it. The head on the right made an attempt at Herry, just as the one on the left tried to get at Archie. Both were able to fight it off easily, Herry with his brawn, and Archie with his whip, which he got better at controlling with every swing. The fight was on, and Theresa kicked and hit at the middle and left heads with everything she had, aiming high and kicking with full strength. When a set of jaws attacked her, she was just a little slower than necessary in dodging, allowing them to cut her shoulder, just barely. She got a few good hits in before a yelp caused her to look beside her as Jay got a good slash in on it. It sounded just like a dog on the street would if injured.

"That's enough." Someone called, and just like that, the dog stopped fighting back, and just lied down on the ground where it stood. Hera stepped out of the treeline, stalking over, taking her time. Theresa became all the more confused about what was going on. The dog seemed harmless now, which it definitely hadn't been when it opened a wound on her shoulder. "Good work, for a first time."

"Sorry, what?" Atlanta said, lowering her arm, and the crossbow attached to it. Hera smiled at her, but Atlanta sure didn't return it with anything other than a look of confusion, "I thought we were..."

"It was a test," Hera said, "I wanted to make sure I wasn't sending a few simple mortals into a battle with Cronus, you understand? So I borrowed Hades' little friend here."

She reached out and scratched the creatures back, causing all three of it's tongues to stick out as it panted, "You did well, but remember; this was only a practice. Be ready for the real deal, when it should come."


End file.
